Learning about the Large Conference Re-Imagined and Re-visited

This paper revisits a study commissioned by IDRC on large conferences. Vast amounts of funds, effort, time, and different types of resources and energies are invested in large conferences. This does not only refer to the funders or organizers of conferences, but also to the participants who travel across the globe to take part in these events.

Concerned about the investments going into these events and wanting to take full advantage of the opportunities they provide to support research for development, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) commissioned a team of researchers from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to study the nature of IDRC's engagement in large conferences, and the related opportunities and challenges.